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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25821931">who wants to "live" forever?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoWindows/pseuds/NoWindows'>NoWindows</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Parallel Processing [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Just Shapes &amp; Beats (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Drabble, Gen, Immortality, Parent-Child Relationship, Suicidal Thoughts, haha depression go brrr, it's just angst it's all angst, set hundreds of years after the events of the game</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 02:01:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>328</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25821931</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoWindows/pseuds/NoWindows</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Were it not for Zef, Tristan would have given up long ago.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Blue Square &amp; Yellow Triangle, Tristan &amp; Zef</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Parallel Processing [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1554061</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>who wants to "live" forever?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It's been hundreds of years.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tristan still remembers everything so clearly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dani had been the first to leave them. The healing power they were so uniquely talented in came at quite a dire cost- the hefty, miraculous healing jobs it took to keep themself and Nitro alive during The Incident drew from their own lifespan. Dani didn’t make it past 40.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a heavy hit, but it was just the first of many. Paula, Eddie, Nitro, Kat, and eventually, even the ones who had come into their life as children.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The ravages of time stole everyone- </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything- </span>
  </em>
  <span>Tristan had fought for, and yet, here Tristan still stands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Immortal” isn’t quite the right word, not for someone who had already died long, long ago. Not for someone who is only hanging on through sheer force of will.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because they still have one person left to hang on for.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As a young god, Zef is, legitimately, immortal. They had stopped aging somewhere in the first few decades of their existence, and since then, not much has changed. Zef still stays relentlessly cheerful, even after all these years, even after all these losses- even Tristan rarely, if ever, sees them falter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe Zef is just that good at wearing a smile and pretending to be okay. Or maybe they're a little </span>
  <em>
    <span>too</span>
  </em>
  <span> accustomed to tragedy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Neither of those thoughts sit well with Tristan, and that is exactly why they can’t leave them behind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No matter how tempting it is. No matter how much they, when left alone with their thoughts, always find those thoughts wandering back to everyone they missed. No matter how easy it would be to just let go, let themself crumble away into eternity, let their spirit come home to the side of the ones they’d </span>
  <em>
    <span>already </span>
  </em>
  <span>died again and again for-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dad! I’m home!” Zef’s ever-cheerful voice chirps from the doorway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That's all that they need to keep them going,</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That's all that keeps them going.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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